Peach Pie Recipe

I had a few requests for the peach pie I made for the weekend so here it is:

Pastry
2 and 2/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
7-8 tablespoons cold water

Mix flour and salt. Use pastry cutter to cut in shortening. Sprinkle with 5 tablespoons of water and mix with a long pronged fork.  Then mix in two more.  You can always use the last one if you don't think it's sticking together just right.

Form dough into a  ball and halve it.  I use the first half to roll out the bottom half of the pastry.  I sometimes can't get that second crust just right so I roll out the second ball and use a ravioli cutter to make lattice strips.  Then I weave them.

Peach Filling
5-6 cups sliced fresh peaches (I like them to be ripe)
1/2-3/4 cup sugar (Depends on tartness of peach variety.)
3 tablespoons flour
dash of salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix until all peaches are coated.  Then pour into the bottom shell.  If they've made a syrup, I don't pour that in. They'll cook out sometimes as is. Dot the filling with about eight flicks of butter.

Top with lattice and bring bottom edge up over the lattice.  I crimp with my thumbs!

Bake at 400 degrees for 45-50 minutes until the crust is golden brown.  (I use a protector on the outside rim so that crust doesn't bake too much.

Enjoy!!!!

RESCUING A KITTEN, Part 2

 
Last week, I blogged about how we'd found a kitten in our backyard.  I made a vet appointment for the day after we found her, knowing there could be physical problems--fleas, worms, runny eyes to name a few.  What I was really concerned about was feline leukemia.  I think that's why we didn't name her before the appointment.

My husband kept the appointment because I had another appointment around the same time.  Fortunately, the vet took him early and he put me on speaker phone so we could have a conference call and I could ask questions.  After forty years of marriage, he knows I always have questions!  But the fact that this vet and tech would do that proved we'd chosen a good veterinarian.

The kitten's little paws were scraped from whatever time she'd been outside on her own.  We'd had a week of storms.  But the vet said they'd heal.  Her coat was good which shows some degree of health and she didn't have ear mites.  But...  She did have fleas and the vet gave her the first part of that treatment, saying we should give her a bath in 48 hours to wash away the flea dirt.  I had never given a cat a bath!  She also gave her the worming medicine and her first distemper shot.  Her runny eyes were a problem because of our other cats.  But she advised us to keep the cats separated, watch her eyes and also be alert for sneezing which could indicate an infection.

Thank goodness the feline leukemia test was negative.

The total cost for the vet was $130.

When my husband brought her home, we considered names.  I had created a character named Zoie in one of my books who ran away to find her bliss.  Just holding her, stroking her and caring for her filled me with a lot of joy.  So we named our new family member Zoie Joy.

Because Zoie's little body was being taxed with the vaccine, fleas and a possible virus/infection, I wanted to help her heal.  We chose healthy kitten foods (Blue and Wellness, both wet and dry with the intention of trying them one at a time) and bought a milk substitute for kittens that was chock full of vitamins. We left a tablespoon of that at night.  Zoie was eating about 8 times a day.  Kittens should be able to have food on demand whenever they want it during that first year.  I had decided to feed her mostly canned food and supplement with dry because in the past with other kittens, too much dry food and water caused diarrhea.  We made another vet appointment for a week later for her second distemper injection and to check eveything else.

The hardest part of all of this was keeping Zoie separated from the other cats.  Ebbie and London wondered where I was disappearing to for hours at a time.  The sunroom is attached to our basement. But I was mostly concerned about Ebbie.  When we'd brought her home from an acquaintance's farm, she'd been a very sick kitten.  She couldn't even meow because of her cough.  Although we helped her fight off the infection and she's been healthy the past eleven years, the virus which caused it remains in her system and could reappear because of stress.  I hoped to prevent that from happening.

More next week about Zoie Joy, her bath and what came next.  If you have any of your own cat rescue stories you'd like to share, please feel free to do so.  I'd like to hear them.


© 2012  Karen Rose Smith

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RESCUING A KITTEN, Part 1

We rescued a kitten this summer.  We love her to bits.  In my new mystery series, my heroine rescues strays.  Maybe what I visualized came true!  But I thought I'd write a blog on our rescue process because taking in a stray can be complicated and costly.  Maybe that's why more people are hesitant to do it.

This kitten was in a shrub, crying.  My husband and a friend found her when they were gardening.  But--and I think this is more a guy thing--they watched her run away.  So when they told me about the baby kitten who had been crying in a bush, I decided to try to find her.  It wasn't hard.  She was still in our backyard.

Tons of thoughts ran through my head.  We have two older cats who are eleven.  One has a territorial problem.  We had never thought about bringing in another kitten because of all the complications one could present.  I've had cats as companions all my life so I'm aware of their behaviors and physical problems as they grow older.  Taking in a kitten would be a big commitment.

However, as soon as my husband caught her and put her in my arms, I was pretty sure we'd figure out whatever we had to do.  She was a baby (about six weeks), hungry and thirsty and dehydrated on an almost 100 degree day.  First thing to do was feed her smooshed cat food with water mixed in.  She knew how to eat so we knew she'd been weaned.  After she ate, she curled up in my arms and fell asleep.  We have a sunroom with A/C and that's where I sat with her, holding her and stroking her.  My husband asked if this was where we were going to keep her and I responded, "For now."  He knew she'd be in the house eventually.  We'd bonded.

Still, I called a neighbor who lived on a farm to the rear of our yard and he knew nothing about the kitten.  After speaking to other neighbors, we realized no one was searching for a small black kitten.  In our area, passersby have dropped kittens before because we knew of other neighbors who took them in.  No one was claiming this one.

Her eyes were runny and I found flea dirt in her fur, which meant she had fleas even if I couldn't see them in her black fuz.  So the next thing I did was make an appointment with a veterinarian.  I couldn't get an appointment with our regular vet for three days, so I phoned a new vet in our area who our petsitter recommended.  I spoke with the receptionist about the kitten and they could get me in the next day.  The tech reminded me to feed her small amounts often with fresh water.  My husband went to the store for kitten food and readied a box with towels as a bed.  At first the kitten was disoriented and she urinated on the towel in the box.  Cats rarely soil where they sleep.  But as soon as she'd eaten two meals and had a nap, she used the nearby litter box and hasn't had an accident since.  Her mom taught her well.  I also think she was well-tended by her mom, groomed and played with because she liked the petting and stroking and was easy to handle.  She was a sweetie.  I held her for hours until she went to sleep, then fed her and repeated the whole process over again.

We also were careful about washing our hands thoroughly before going into the house with our other two cats.  I changed clothes each time because I was the one who handled all three cats.  We didn't know yet if the kitten had distemper or feline leukemia.  That's why a quick vet appointment was necessary.

More about the veterinarian visit, the cost and naming the new kitty in the next blog.


© 2012 Karen Rose Smith

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A UNEXPECTED KITTEN GIFT

When I'm writing, each day is an adventure of finding out what my characters are going to say and do next.  My life, on the other hand, I like to keep on an even keel.  The unexpected happens but still in an "ordinary" way.

As we get older, our lives become filled with anniversary dates.  In previous blogs about Mother's Day and Father's Day, I wrote about positive ways to deal with those anniversary dates and holidays when we miss someone we love.  June has one of those anniversary dates for me--my parents' anniversary.

When I was growing up, I always had a cat.  My mom cuddled them.  My dad tolerated them.  But he knew how much I loved each one we befriended over the years.  So when I got married, it was natural to have a cat or two.  We have two now who are eleven years old.  We hadn't expected to bring any more into our lifestyle.  After all, don't we all know our place?  Aren't our lives settled the way they are?

As my parents' anniversary date approached, I was busy with a book deadline and thinking maybe this year, I would take a walk and get on with my day.  But...  My husband was gardening.  When he came in for lunch, he told me he'd heard a baby kitten in a small gnarled weeping redbud tree by our patio.  When I went outside, he found her and it was love at first sight.  She was tiny, scared, dehydrated and hungry.  After we fed her mashed-up cat food with water, she cuddled right up with me and fell asleep in my arms.  I held her most of the day, feeding her little bits often.  After my husband drove to the store to buy kitten food, I asked, "Do you know what today is?"  And he did.  We were keeping her.

 

We named her Zoie Joy.  Zoie after a character in one of my books who runs away to find bliss...and Joy because that's what this kitten has brought us.

And yes, I believe my parents sent us this little gift because we needed to remember that life isn't just about routine and busyness--but about those unexpected joys.

©2012 Karen Rose Smith

 Karen's July Release

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IN TOUCH with KAREN ROSE SMITH e-zine is posted!

Instead of a blog today, I wanted to share my July e-zine with you. I publish IN TOUCH once a month. It always has my latest publishing news, around the house photos and a special of the month which is usually a contest.  This month the prize is an amethyst and freshwater pearl bracelet and an advance copy of my August Harlequin Special Edition RILEY'S BABY BOY.  I hope you'll click on the link and enjoy.

IN TOUCH with KAREN ROSE SMITH e-zine

Best,
Karen 


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THE POWER OF MUSIC

My Dad's Guitar

Ever since I was a young girl, music has made a difference in my life.  Until I was five, my parents and I lived with my grandfather and aunt.  After that, they lived next door and I was back and forth continuously.  I come from an Italian heritage and my grandfather was an immigrant.  He played the mandolin beautifully.  On weekends, friends would stop by with guitars and an accordion, and he and his friends made music.  That music brought into the house fellowship, fun and a sense of well-being.

Also in my grandfather's house was a player piano.  We inserted what was called a "roll" and a melody magically played while my mother and I would sing along.  She played the piano herself, and I would accompany her, too.  It was natural for me to learn to play the piano.   Although my dad didn't feel he was musically inclined, he taught himself how to play both the organ and the guitar when he was in his fifties. So throughout both my childhood and adult years, I learned to express emotion through playing, and I found joy and inspiration in music.

With this history, I never just listen to a song.  I feel it.  I like all kinds of music from the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Chad and Jeremy, Peter, Paul and Mary, Joan Baez, Frankie Avalon and Bobby Rydell to Josh Groban, Il Divo, Charice, Brad Paisley, Kelly Clarkson, Adam Lambert, Jason Castro, Blake Shelton and Scotty McCreery.  I listen for artists and music which can stir that deep creative part of me, whether it does that by bringing back memories, lifting me to a mountaintop, soothing pain and stress away or urging me to write a particularly emotional scene.  Music lifts me over the writing bumps...and life's bumps.

That is probably why I felt I had to write a novel about the power of music.  I'd wanted to do this for a long time, but the time and plot had to be right.  Recently, it was.  I've written about high school sweethearts who were separated by life.  My heroine Mikala Conti, a music therapist, reunites with Dawson Barrett at their 15th year high school reunion.  There, he asks if she can help with his son who has gone through the trauma of being in an accident with his mother who died.  No one has been able to break through Luke's barriers.  But his ten-year-old loves music and when Dawson realized Mikala is highly recognized in the field of music therapy, he knew he had to ask if she would take on Luke as her client.  This is one of my most emotional plots that surrounds Luke coming to terms with what happened.  Because of Mikala and her love and use of music, father and son heal.

I believe in the power of music to lift us above the pain and reinvigorate our spirits.  I hope you are touched by its power in life...and in this book.

THE CEO'S UNEXPECTED PROPOSAL was just released in print and will be available in e-book format July 1.



©2012 Karen Rose Smith

 THE CEO'S UNEXPECTED PROPOSAL Print Version/Amazon

THE CEO'S UNEXPECTED PROPOSAL E-Book/Amazon 

THE CEO'S UNEXPECTED PROPOSAL/Barnes and Noble 

 

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MISSING A DAD

In May I wrote about positive ways to navigate Mother's Day if your mom had passed on.  Father's Day is the matching holiday that can bring bittersweet reminders from Hallmark commercials to Father's Day movies. To bring up the "happy" and deal with the "sad," I start by remembering the gifts my dad gave me. I'm not speaking of material possessions, but rather qualities I inherited or absorbed by simply being around him.

My dad was from a large family of ten children.  Most weekends, especially in summer, brothers and sisters would visit each other,.  I remember the park benches that sat on the corner around my grandfather's house under the shade of tall elms.  My aunts would bring food--after all, we were Italian--and my grandfather would pour the wine.  I would be spending time with my cousins.  Even when we all didn't gather at my grandfather's house, we'd visit a nearby aunt or uncle for an evening chat session.  The main quality I absorbed from my dad was the loyalty he felt toward his brothers and sisters, the joy in their company, the need to stay in touch.  So loyalty and the importance of family are at the top of my gift lists.

My father was generous.  He and my mom grew up during the Depression and knew what life was like when a family had to stretch what it had to survive.  He didn't want others to suffer that way.  He and my uncle grew corn.  Every summer they'd give lots of it away to anyone who wanted or needed it.  When my husband and I were first married, on each of our visits to my childhood home, my dad would send home with us anything he thought we'd need, from canned goods to garden chairs.

My dad was artistic.  He worked with wood, making beautiful plant stands and benches.  He taught himself how to play the organ and, after he retired, began painting in watercolors and acrylics.  We have his paintings hanging in my office and the kitchen.  His plant stands remind me of the care he took with each piece.  I learned from my dad that I could learn or begin something new, whatever my age.  I also learned to search for the creative spirit inside myself that could bring me fulfillment.

I don't know if I ever heard the words "I love you" from my dad.  That was a different time when men didn't feel comfortable expressing affection.  But after he passed on, I realized I didn't need the words.  I felt his love each day in the way he provided for his family, worried about me, sent me a card on Valentine's Day.  Most of all, I remember how when I was sick and home from school, we'd build model ships together or play blackjack.  My dad was a man of few words, but as I grew older I could read the meaning and affection between the words.

So on this Father's Day, if you miss your dad, think about the intangible gifts he gave you and use them to make the world a better place.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy.

©2012 Karen Rose Smith

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